In South Africa, SAGPA, the South African Gyro Pilots Association serves as the recognized voice of Gyrocopter Aviation through leadership, collaboration and unity in the promotion of safety in the sport of Gyrocopter Aviation in South Africa.
There are currently an estimated 300 Gyrocopters in the country of which about 180 are flown on a regular basis. Kittyhawk itself houses about twenty. The record number of visitors' to the field during its annual fly in is thirty set a few years ago.
Photo by Captain Karl Jensen
Kitty Hawk aerodrome is located 30km and an easy 20 minute drive south east of Pretoria in the Boschkop area and is is the central hub for an active aviation community and offers aircraft owner's superb facilities.
The airfield is privately owned and administrated under a sectional title scheme. Open to the public and non-members are welcome to fly in. Kitty Hawk does not levy landing fees and there is a fuel bay with AVGAS / MOGAS available 7 days a week.
Photos by Captain Karl Jensen
After a bitter cold week the weather thankfully turned and when I left the field at mid-morning it was actually quite pleasant being outside. A total of 32 gyros visited this year, just one short of the current record of 33. Seven fixed-wing aircraft also flew in.
A nice touch was the spot landing competition on arrival as well as a prize giving after wards. My apologies for not getting the surnames of all the pilots The winner of the spot landing, in the words of one of the judges, "the best of the worst" was George. Dave was recognised as the pilot that got up the earliest and Graham Richardson won the prize for the prettiest Gyro.
The next event, and one not be missed at Kitty Hawk is the always popular Vans RV Fly In scheduled for Saturday 12 September.
Photos by Captain Karl Jensen
